My week- ridiculous.

My best, most darling friend has decided to move from Los Angeles to some strange state called…. Florida?  It’s wonderful for her.  I’m just heartbroken that I won’t have her around to watch me bake and drink wine and talk for hours and hours.

I can get over that heartbreak thanks to my immense amount of rollover cell phone minutes.  I’ll be fine…

BUT!  It seems like  I’ve been saying goodbye to my friend at goodbye parties all week long.  I’m not really a girl that goes to bars, but it seems like each night of the week I’ve been raising a glass to my friend.  It’s been fun.  It’s been almost too fun!  Each night is more ridiculous than the next.

If you haven’t been to a bar in a while, well, let me tell you, it’s madness.  In just one week I’ve… Well let’s just say that I’m going to church in the morning, and no, I didn’t get a tattoo… or did I?

Bon Voyage Sonia my love.

Enough of that, we have cookies to discuss.

These citrus sables will class up any ridiculous week.  Throw together a batch of these slice and bake French butter cookies, and those beers and bar fights will be a distant memory.

Citrus Sables

Baking: from my home to yours

Print this recipe!

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter (preferably high-fat, like Plugra), softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted before measuring
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt
2 large egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour.

zest of 1 lemon and zest of 1 lime

For the decoration (optional):
1 egg yolk
Crystal or dazzle sugar.

1. Working in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until it is smooth and very creamy. Rub the zest of the lemon and lime into the granulated sugar with your fingertips, creating a fragrant sugar.  Add the sugars and salt to the butter and continue to beat until smooth and velvety, not fluffy and airy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in 2 egg yolks, again beating until well blended.

2. Turn off the mixer, pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the mixer and pulse the mixer about 5 times at low speed for 1 or 2 seconds each time. Take a peek; if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of more times; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, stir for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough and the dough looks uniformly moist. If you still have some flour on the bottom of the bowl, stop mixing and use a rubber spatula to work the rest of it into the dough. (The dough will not come together in a ball — and it shouldn’t. You want to work the dough as little as possible. What you’re aiming for is a soft, moist, clumpy dough. When pinched, it should feel a little like Play-Doh.)

3. Scrape the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long (it’s easiest to work on a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the log). Wrap the logs well and chill them for at least 2 hours. The dough may be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

4. When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and keep it at the ready.

5. To decorate the edges of the sables, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Place one log of chilled dough on a piece of waxed paper and brush it with yolk (the glue), and then sprinkle the entire surface of the log with sugar. Trim the ends of the roll if they are ragged and slice the log into 1/3-inch-thick cookies.

6. Place the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between each cookie, and bake for 17 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on top. Let the cookies rest 1 or 2 minutes before carefully lifting them onto a cooling rack with a wide metal spatula. Repeat with the remaining log of dough. (Make sure the sheet is cool before baking each batch.)

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie delight is Almost Fudge Gateau.  Don’t know how to pronounce Gateau?  Luckily that’s not a prerequisite to eat this cake.  The cake is an intensely chocolate, dense yet moist chocolate bomb.  It’s the kind of cake you might serve to your guests after a fancy dinner, and wonder why you didn’t just serve the cake itself for dinner.  Yea… this dark chocolate cake is worthy of being the main course.

The indulgent density of this cake is partially attributed to it’s leavening ingredients.  The cake doesn’t have baking soda or baking powder to raise and lighten the batter.  Stiffly whipped egg whites are folded into a rich chocolate batter, to lighten the cake once it’s in the oven.  The product is deliciously  rich and not for the faint of heart.

I used an old  10- inch springform pan that had a funky wreath shape. The center turned out to be the perfect place for loads of fresh berries.

Almost Fudge Gateau

Print this recipe!

from Baking: from my home to yours

5 large eggs

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coursely chopped

1 cup sugar

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

2 Tablespoons coffee or water

1/3 cup all purpose flour

pinch of salt

Getting Ready

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9-inch spring form pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess.  Place the pan on a baking sheet covered with parchment or a silicone mat.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a mixer bowl or other large bowl and the yolks in a small bowl.

Set a heatproof howl over a saucepan of simmering water and add the chocolate, sugar, butter and coffee.  Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted; the sugar may be grainy and that’s fine.  Transer the bowl to the counter and let the mixture sit for three minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, stir in the yolks one by one, then fold in the flour.

Working with the whisk attachment of the mixer or hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they hold firm but glossy peaks.  Using the spatula, stir about one quarter of the beaten whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest.  Scrape the batter into the pan and jiggle the pan from side to side a couple of times to even the batter.

Bake for 35- 45 minutes, or until the cake has risen evenly ( it might rise around the edges and you’ll think it’s done, but give it a few minutes more and the center will puff too) and the top has firmed (it will probably be cracked) and doesn’t shimmy when tapped; a thin knife inserted into the center should come out just slightly streaked with chocolate.  Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Run a blunt knife gently around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the pan.  Carefully turn the cake over onto a rack ad remove the pan bottom and parchment paper.  Invert the cake onto another rack and cool to room temperature right side up.  As the cake cools, it may sink.

For the Glaze

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

First, turn the cooled cake over onto another rack so you’ll be grazing the flat bottom, and place the rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to catch any drips.

Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.

Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave oven- the chocolate should be just melted and warm, but not hot.  Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir very gently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny  Stir in the corn syrup.

Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth the tip with  a long metal icing spatula.  Don’t worry if the glaze drips unevenly down the sides of the cake’ it will just add to its charm.  allow the glaze to set at room temperature or, if you’re impatient, slip the cake into the fridge for about 20 minutes.  If the glaze dulls in the fridge, just give it a little gently heat from a hairdryer.

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